Pirate Wars

Sin of Treachery

Let's open this chapter with a moment of sadness...

Chapter 14: Sin of Treachery

Hyrule; Mogma Mines (Play "Sad Olivia" from Mario: Origami King.)

Miko found a cave near the edge of the volcano. Judging by the large footprints in the soil, she deduced that Carmine had run in here. She didn't have the energy to call out to her or to move faster than she already was. As she walked deeper into the mine, there seemed to be colored gems lodged in the soil, softly flickering on and off to provide light to this dimness. There were Mogmas digging around the soil, a race of yellowish, long-armed mole creatures.

"Hey, Ledd! What was that weird alien thing that just came past?"

"I dunno, Flint, but that moaning sound was kinda creepy. We'd better stay away from it."

Miko passively glanced at the Mogmas, but felt her shoe bump something. It was Carmine's helmet. Miko silently picked it up and followed the trail into a left tunnel. It led to a wider tunnel with several doors and socializing Mogmas. "Hey, check out this goil!" a Mogma pointed. "Lookin' at that getup, you look like you're on your way to a party. You won't get to Castle Rock through here."

"..." Miko only gave him a cold stare and continued, crossing a few small bridges to reach one of the doors. The door looked like it had been forcefully yanked open, so she entered. Miko went up a small staircase past some conversing Mogmas. "That thing looked like some alien that escaped from a madhouse. I don't wanna go near it!"

"Maybe it escaped from that new theme park over yonder?"

Miko stepped up to a door leading to the second level of the village. She crossed a narrow ledge to another door that a Mogma was peeking into. "Yah!" the mole yelped, realizing Miko was behind him. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Hey... you wouldn't happen to know that thing that just ran past? It's makin' a scary sound. ..." The Mogma looked Miko in the eyes. "You look a little under the weather yourself. I dunno what's up, but... just do what ya gotta do."

The Mogma dug away and let Miko enter the door. Faint rays of light shone through the gaps of the tunnel as Miko could hear Carmine's sobs echoing eerily. She stepped forward slowly, seeing Carmine's discarded gloves. Soon, Miko found her friend sitting on a rock within a wider ray of light. Her form was hunched over a pond of clear water, reflecting her shriveled and miserable visage. Miko calmly approached and sat beside her.

Carmine saw Miko's reflection appear, but couldn't look up. "It's my fault... I...I killed Drake... I wasn't ready for this... I never should've come... I was right not to go to New Galaxia... 'cause if we did... the same thing would've happened... I'm just not ready for war..."

Miko really wasn't sure what to say to her. She knew a pep talk wouldn't work here... especially since she had no motivation for it. The best she could do was try to take the blame away. "It...it's my fault. I'm the one who wanted to come here... and I was looking at it all wrong. I was... trying to have fun. I was so excited to be on such a big mission with my new friends... and I thought nothing was gonna go wrong. But now Haneesh... and Drake..." Miko could no longer restrain herself as tears streamed down her face. "I never should've joined this team!"

Miko could only sob for the next few minutes as her tears dripped the pond. "I should've just gone back to Hinobi! Then, when this happened, at least Drake wouldn't have died! I'm the one who dragged you into this..."

"Maybe... but you're way better than me. When I got my accident... Drake still wanted me in his team. He still believed in me... he didn't think I was gross, or helpless... and I didn't wanna be useless, either. I did my best to get better... so I could still be useful. But I betrayed them... I betrayed Drake... I even let myself get captured before... After all this, I really am just the worst..."